


When Darkness Falls

by planetinternet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Dark Harry Potter, Dark Hermione Granger, Dark Magic, Dark Ron Weasley, Dumbledore Bashing, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts First Year, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Hogwarts Second Year, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hogwarts Third Year, Hufflepuff, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant, Ravenclaw, Severus Snape Bashing, Silver Trio, Slytherin, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherin Hermione Granger, Slytherin Politics, Slytherin Pride, Slytherin Ron Weasley, The Golden Trio, The Golden Trio Era, Weasley Bashing, dead arthur weasley, golden trio and draco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12483912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetinternet/pseuds/planetinternet
Summary: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, beacons of light, or that's what they were supposed to be. Whilst the wizarding world sees them as heroes, the truth is much darker. With the help of Draco Malfoy, they battle basilisks, terminate traitors and stand together against the forces of the world.





	1. Letters From A Liar

_'HARRY POTTER, THE BOY WHO LIVED'_ was plasteredin dark, bold letters across the top of the Daily Prophet, its words screaming 'saviour' to the wizarding world, showing that the dark days were finally over.

Ten years later, that article would still be able to be found in the houses of witches and wizards, preserved by a spell, a memorial for their hero. Yet at that moment, that boy, who lay on the cold, hard ground in a small shack on the centre of a craggy island, had no idea that he was a saviour, nor that he was special. Instead, this boy had never been made to feel like either of those things, the way that he would have done in a loving family. However, the Dursley's were far from loving, Harry had been made to grow up on his own, to feed a family he never cared for and to become just as cold as the floor he had to sleep on, just as dark as the small cupboard that had been his home. Using a small finger, Harry slowly drew himself a birthday cake in the dirt and made a wish, he had never been one for wishes, there was no need to put your faith in something so nonsensical when all you could rely on, was yourself. In spite of that, in this particular moment of time, Harry Potter wished that he could have just one of those letters and the reasons why it was so important that he should receive one. He reopened his bright green eyes and a loud crash banged against the rickety door of the shack, for a moment Harry had thought it was the wind, but he was proved wrong when the loud bang came twice more. There was someone outside. Harry found it rather odd that someone had come to this crumbling island, in the middle of a stormy night and then proceeded to demand entrance to the single shack on it. Uncle Vernon hurried into the room and in his hands was a large rifle, which was aimed towards the door. "Who's there?" Uncle Vernon's voice was barely heard above the wind. "I warn you - I'm armed!"  
As soon as those words had left the balding man's mouth, the door fell to the floor with an almighty crash. The man who had kicked down their door could barely be seen in the darkness but appeared to be taller than the doorframe itself. He ducked under the entrance to the shack and forced his way inside, this man, Harry decided, was dangerous and could quite possibly break him in half with his bare hands. In this situation, the only logical thing to do would be to get out of this man's way and let his Uncle deal with him, after all, Harry would not have been saddened if his Uncle came to an early demise, he would deserve it.   
Nevertheless, the giant did the opposite of what Harry had expected, instead of murdering them on the spot, he put the door back on its hinges and turned to them with a warm smile on his face, "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea now, could yeh?" He asked, as though he expected a small, decrepit place such as this to have a warm drink, this man was as smart as he appeared. This man quickly made himself comfortable and sat down on the rotting sofa next to Dudley, who scrambled away and hid behind his father along with Aunt Petunia. "An' here's Harry!" The giant exclaimed as he turned to face Harry. Harry looked at this man in surprise, he would surely remember meeting a man like this, and yet, this man seemed to know who he was. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby." Continued the man, as though he had not just broken into the house, demanded tea and started to make small talk with an eleven-year-old boy. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes." Now Harry was curious, this man knew his parents, he had never been allowed to talk about them, it was forbidden, just as many things were in the Dursley household. The strange squeak that Uncle Vernon emitted proved Harry's train of thought.  
"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" Growled Uncle Vernon, in a tone that Harry was very used to hearing, though it had never been aimed at anyone else. "You are breaking and entering!" Judging by the look on Uncle Vernon's face, he was terrified of what else this stranger might say, Harry had never understood why his Aunt and Uncle had refused to tell him about his parents, so it seemed like he was finally going to get some answers. Uncle Vernon was right to be afraid of this man, as he had taken the rifle from his hands, bent it in two and thrown it into the corner of the room.   
The man turned back to Harry with a smile on his face once again and carried on as though nothing had happened. "Anyway—Harry, a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here—I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." Harry was more than shocked, this stranger knew a lot about him, and in the space of five minutes, he had shown more interest in Harry's life than the Dursleys ever had. The giant handed him a medium sized box, albeit slightly squashed, but Harry didn't mind, as he opened it carefully and saw a cake inside. The cake appeared to be homemade, it was chocolate and on the top, in wobbly green icing, it read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY'.  
Now Harry was able to ask the question that he had been urging to ask since the man had barged his way in. "Who are you?"   
The man chuckled at Harry's bluntness. "Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." Hogwarts? That sounded like a made-up place, yet, the man looked completely serious, and Uncle Vernon looked as though he was about to explode. Rubeus Hagrid offered him his hand, which Harry accepted, and then shook all of Harry's arm. In usual circumstances, Harry would have felt it necessary to introduce himself, however, these circumstances were far from ordinary, and the man already seemed to know who he was.   
"I'm still not sure who you are," Harry admitted to the man, unashamed of having to ask since, for the first time in his life, questions seemed to be welcomed.  
"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts—yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course." Hagrid still did not appear to be joking, as he repeated his formal title once again, with as much sincerity as the first time.  
"I've never heard of it." Answered Harry, still wary of the man, however, instead of laughing at him and revealing the whole thing to be an enormous joke, Hagrid looked flabberghasted.   
He even turned to look at the Dursley's with a sneer before he answered. "Never heard of- Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"  
"All what?" Harry asked in confusion, he was beginning to doubt everything that the Dursleys had told him, yet, he didn't trust what the man was telling him to be the truth either.  
Harry's lack of knowledge just seemed to make Hagrid even angrier. "ALL WHAT?' He repeated Harry's words in a roar that shook the walls of the shack before he rounded on the cowering Dursleys. "Now wait jus' one second. Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that yeh never told this boy ANYTHING?" Harry could feel the anger being emitted from the man, which confused Harry further, he knew that he did well in school, but this was clearly about something else, something that Harry really was clueless about.   
"Tell me about what?" Harry asked.  
Hagrid seemed to calm down slightly when he turned back to Harry. "Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."   
"What world?" Now Harry was sure that this man was at least slightly insane, there was only one world, unless his parents were part of a secret society, Harry briefly wondered whether his parents had been secret agents, but that idea seemed highly unplausible.   
"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," Hagrid now seemed to be desperate for Harry to have known something. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."  
'What? My parents weren't famous, were they?" Harry was sure that he had never seen his parents in any book at school and if they were famous, Harry imagined that their deaths would have been memorialised like other celebrity deaths.  
"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid seemed to be completely bewildered and unprepared for the situation as he continued to stare at Harry. In a final attempt to get Harry to remember something. "Yeh don' know what yeh are?"  
It seemed as though Uncle Vernon had finally had enough, his voice had returned and he stared at Hagrid directly when he spoke. "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!" Though his bravery vanished once more when Hagrid shot him a furious look, and Uncle Vernon backed away again.  
You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"  
"Kept what from me?" Harry asked angrily, he couldn't believe that the Dursleys had kept something so big from him, and now he was adamant to know.  
Now Uncle Vernon's voice was laced with panic. "STOP! I FORBID YOU!"  
"Tha' tone don' work on me Dursley," Hagrid growled in response, to which Aunt Petunia let out a slight whimper. "Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." Now Hagrid turned to Harry and told him the answer that he had been waiting for. "Harry - yer a wizard."  
"What?" Harry replied and a bubble of amusement escaped in shock. Right now the secret agent idea was seeming more realistic, magic was just fanciful thinking for the fainthearted. Harry had never even thought about the possibility of magic existing because the idea of it just sounded completely nonsensical.   
"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, as though it was the most ordinary thing to tell a person. "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. Now, here's yer letter."  
"Right.. obvious," Harry mumbled as he took the thick envelope from Hagrid and opened it suspiciously. Upon inspection, the letter appeared to be rather ordinary, made out of thick parchment - an odd choice but not dangerous - and was written in a fine, green cursive. Still, Harry was still not very trusting of its contents, was it really all that safe to believe a complete stranger on all of this. Harry shrugged that thought away, anywhere would be better than having to live with the Dursleys.  
"He's not going." Uncle Vernon said firmly, Harry just stared at him as though he were stupid, the old codger would never learn his lesson.  
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like yerself stop him," Once again it sounded as though Hagrid had made up a word.  
"A what?" Harry asked, to him it sounded like an insult of some kind, which he hoped it was.  
"A person withou' magic." Hagrid explained.  
"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," Uncle Vernon retaliated in a defiant manner.   
"You knew," Harry said quietly. "YOU KNEW?' This time the words came out louder than before, Harry was beyond angry, he was tired of being lied to, everything he had ever known, was just one big lie. "Oh, and while we're at it, I suppose my parents didn't die in a car crash?"  
"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, who was now standing. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal!"   
"Why is that a scandal?" Harry asked, he now realised that his parents must have been important as Hagrid was showing emotions of great horror.  
"Right, now what yer have teh understand is that not all wizards are good," Hagrid began to explain, Harry listened carefully and his horror grew the more he learned. His parents had been murdered, by the darkest wizard in history, Voldemort. But he, Harry had been able to survive and send Voldemort away in the process.   
"But how does that me a hero? I was one year old, has no one ever considered external factors?" Harry asked, a world he did not even know existed until moments ago had no right to make him their hero, especially for something he cannot even remember doing.  
"Yer a symbol o' hope Harry. Yer the saviour of the wizarding world." Hagrid said.

"I don't even remember it." Harry insisted.  
"People aren't going teh see it that way, you were the one who stopped him so yer the hero," Hagrid told him with a slight touch of sorrow in his voice. Harry was annoyed, he never wanted to be a hero, he had no reason to save people, people had never done anything for him. in spite of this, Harry knew that if Voldemort did ever return, he would be the one to kill him, he would kill him with his bare hands if he had to. "Dumbledore said that yer wouldn't know stuff, but I never expected this," Harry remembered that Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts and that he had been the one to leave Harry at the Dursleys.  
"Has Dumbledore been keeping an eye on me?" Harry asked, using his words selectively so that the Dursleys wouldn't realise what was happening. Now that Harry had learned of Voldemort, he knew that the wizarding world would not have just sent him away.  
"I suppose, yer Harry Potter after all." Hagrid chuckled. "Why'd yer ask?"  
"You've mentioned him a few times, it seemed like he was in charge." Harry shrugged the question off easily as the anger welled up inside him. This meant that Dumbledore knew everything, all the things that the Dursleys had put him through over the years, the beatings, the starving, the cupboard, overall neglects and how he had been treated like a slave since he was able to hold a broom.  
"Great man Dumbledore," Hagrid added as an afterthought.  
Harry had no answer to that, Dumbledore did not seem all that great to him, in no circumstance should anyone have to go through the abuse that he went through. The great man that Hagrid saw was false, just a facade. To Harry Dumbledore was just one thing, a liar. Liars deserve to be punished.

_And so, Harry James Potter left for Hogwarts with two goals in his mind, to avenge his parents' murder, and to punish Albus Dumbledore for his manipulation of others._

When Ronald Weasley received his acceptance letter, he was not even surprised, all of his older brothers had been accepted into the school, and he himself had done accidental magic many times. Ronald knew that he had a lot to overcome once attended Hogwarts, he knew the views that people had of his family, views that he hated to be included in. When his father died, their family had been thrown into a worse poverty than before, his mother had worked full time at the ministry of magic. But now, they were living better than they ever had been, his mother was now head of the Department of Mysteries, whilst Bill and Charlie sent home a quarter of their earnings, to make up for any losses. During his childhood, Ronald had been very dependent on his mother, but when his family learned of his fascination with the Dark Arts, he had been cast aside and forced to grow up alone. On the day that his letter arrived, Molly Weasley had informed Ronald that he would not be going, but after Dumbledore had visited, she changed her mind and Ronald was allowed to attend. The Weasleys, like the rest of the wizarding world, had a blind faith in Dumbledore, one that Ronald failed to understand, yet despite his mistrust in the man, he was more than happy to let him talk Molly into letting him go to Hogwarts. However, to his dismay, Ronald learned that he would be in the same year as Harry Potter and would be overshadowed by everything the saviour did. Ronald planned to stay clear of the saviour, as he was a beacon of light and would surely look down upon Ronald's interests just as everyone else had. Besides, as he was a hero, he would be in Gryffindor, and would get himself killed by the end of his first year for trying to save everyone. Unlike the rest of his family, Ronald had no intentions of being in Gryffindor, the bunch of do-gooders made him sick to the stomach and he relinquished the thought that he would have to get along with people like that.

Despite all outward appearances, Ronald was very excited the day they went to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies, he had already constructed a plan, as he knew that his mother would refuse to leave his side the entire time. They had been there for about an hour before Ronald started his plan.  
"Mother?" Ronald asked innocently.  
"What is it, Ronald?" Molly replied in annoyance,  
"Do you get lonely when everyone is at school?"  
"Oh - why I suppose I do." The shock on Molly's face was clear, Ronald had not shown much interest in their family life for years.  
"Have you ever thought of buying a communication device? I hear they are very popular these days." He informed her.  
"Ooh what a grand idea!" Molly exclaimed. "I can get one for all you boys at Hogwarts, and even one for Bill and Charlie." Just as Ronald expected, Molly rushed towards the nearest supplier and left Ronald alone, with his money and school supplies. Ronald smiled and started to make his way through the crowds towards Knockturn Alley, a street that he was forbidden to go down, however, there was an important book on the Dark Arts for sale there, which he wanted to buy. Ronald had never been allowed a book on the Dark Arts, as Molly was afraid of what he would do with the knowledge, but Ronald planned to use his free time to practise it at Hogwarts.   
The man in Msaw Ætaregave Ronald a surprised look when he entered, the Weasley red hair was famous, especially for its association with the Light Side. Nevertheless, Ronald ignored him and started to browse the shelves for the particular book he had in mind. Just as he had heard, the book was here,  _Infamous Blood Rituals and How To Use Them_. With a look of triumph on his face, Ronald pulled the book from the shelf and went to pay for it.  
"Do you know what that book is?" The clerk asked Ronald when he caught sight of the title.  
"Of course, I want to buy it after all," Ronald replied coolly. "Besides, it is your job to sell me the book, not to be concerned about whether I will know how to use it."  
"Alright then." Gruffed the man, he accepted Ronald's money and handed him back the book. Nothing more was said and Ronald left the shop, the book clutched in his hands.   
He hurried down the side of the shop, pulled out his wand, prepared to use it for the first time, the spell he had researched at the front of his mind. He pointed the wand at the book and spoke the incantation clearly. "Reducio." The book began to shrink until it was small enough for him to fit inside his robe pocket undetected. Ron smirked, Hogwarts would surely be interesting. 

_Ronald Billius Weasley left for Hogwarts with his high ambitions and a will to become greater than his family could ever aspire to be._

On the day that a strange man appeared on the Granger's doorstep with the news that their daughter was a witch, they were beyond relieved. Mrs Granger had broken down in tears and begged the man to fix their daughter, they believed that she had been possessed by the devil. The strange man, who goes by the name Albus Dumbledore simply looked amused by this statement, he had heard it many times from the parents of Muggleborns. "Mr and Mrs Granger," Dumbledore started in a calm voice. "I can assure you that your daughter is not ailed by any demons, her magical ability is part of who she is. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we teach children just like Miss Granger to not only use their powers, but how to control them."  
"She already knows how to control her powers!" Wailed Mrs Granger, her husband wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I've seen her use them! She trips over other children in the playground when they chase her, makes the stones fly towards them when they are mean to her, the teachers and other students see her as a freak."  
"It is possible that it is just accidental magic, all magical children will experience this, particularly when they are anxious or scared, she might not have known what she was doing was magic," Dumbledore explained, he tried to calm the fears of the hysterical lady.  
"No," Mr Granger said cutting in. "She knows what she is doing, ever since she started doing it, she has read more books about magic than any other child in her class and her outbursts have been similar to the type of magic in the books. I've seen her create fire from thin air, pull all the leaves off the trees in a gust of wind and send swarms of insects after the other children. It got to the point where we had to remove all fantasy books from the house and have her banned from reading them in the school library. But it didn't end there, she began to sneak out of the house for hours on end to read more books in the library, or to steal books from the shops. Her powers are becoming stronger and stronger and we do not have a way to contain them. Help our daughter, please." The man begged, for both Mr and Mrs Granger were terrified of what their daughter could do if she was not kept under control.  
Dumbledore was surprised at the abilities of this child and her determination to use them, usually, children were unable to control their magic until they got a wand, but this girl was able to perform non-verbal and wandless magic before she had even attended her first lesson. He knew that she would be a very powerful witch someday, he hoped that she would turn to the light and fight for him. Albus Dumbledore intended to use this girl when Voldemort would inevitably return, alongside Harry Potter, Voldemort would not stand a chance. "When will Miss Granger be home?" Dumbledore asked.

When young Hermione Granger arrived home that day, she was ecstatic to hear that she would be able to attend a school with people like her, where she would be able to learn magic and not be restricted from being herself. She told the old man that she would become the best witch at the school and that she was excited to learn more about magic. Dumbledore told her that she could send him a letter by owl if she had any further questions and gave her directions to a place where she could buy her school supplies. After Dumbledore left, Hermione began to practice her magic even more, and with the help of her new wand and textbooks, she was able to reach new magical heights.

_Hermione Jean Granger was determined that one day the world would be impressed by her and envy her magical abilities, rather than look down on her for being different._

Until the moment his letter arrived, Draco was filled with anxiety that he might not receive it, there was no reason for him not to receive one, however, the very thought of what his father would do if he was not magical enough to attend Hogwarts shook him to the core. Therefore, when Draco was able to hold the heavy parchment in his hands, he nearly wept tears of joy. The words 'Malfoy's don't cry' ran through his head in his father's stern voice, instead, Draco took a firm stance and delivered the letter to his father in his office. Lucius Malfoy had always been a stern man, one who stuck to his code (and the code of every Malfoy heir before him) and insisted of enforcing this code upon his only son, Draco Malfoy. There was a long list of things that Malfoys could or could not be, should or should not do, must act or must not act, things that had ingrained into Draco his entire life. Draco was proud to be a Malfoy, they were a pureblooded and prestigious family, one of the only true pureblood families left. From a young age, he had been told that it was better to be a pureblood, that halfbloods and mudbloods were nothing but scum that should work for him. To be a Malfoy was to rule, to walk over others, to bend them to your will, to force others to do things that it would be improper for a Malfoy to do. Overall, Draco believed most of these things, he believed that he was better due to his blood purity, he believed that he should be able to get what he wanted, however, he did not want to be the heir. Being an heir meant that there was a lot of responsibilities, a lot of rules to follow and a strict appearance to keep up. Draco had never been a child, yet his child-like instincts willed him to run wild and to be his own person, someone who was vastly different to the man that he worked so hard to please. Unfortunately, Lucius Malfoy was not easily pleased, when he learned of Draco's acceptance into Hogwarts, rather than congratulating him, he gave him a long list of instructions for what he should do when he arrived, from the moment that they arrived at the train station.

"Draco?" Lucius asked over breakfast on the first of September. "I trust that you remember what you are to do when you attend Hogwarts."  
"Yes Father," Draco replied politely, he made sure to look at his father when he was addressed and to look him directly in the eyes when he spoke. To do this was to show a sign of importance and was more basically the proper manners that one should be taught.  
"These duties are?" Lucius prompted, a look of despair on his face, he thought that he had taught his son better than to answer so brashly.   
"At the train station, I am to meet with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, we are then to proceed to the third compartment on the second carriage. You have already informed the other pureblood families that that is where I will be so there will not be any purebloods in the compartment. Therefore, I can remove any other person who may be in the carriage. Halfway through the journey, I will find out where Harry Potter is and I will befriend him as he will provide us with a good ally in the future. At Hogwarts, I am to be sorted into Slytherin house and am to ensure my dominance throughout the first years immediately. I will also be first in all my classes and will not let anyone overtake me, particularly a mudblood. Under no circumstance will I be friendly towards bloodtraitors, halfbloods or mudbloods. Finally, I am to assert my position in the house by the end of the year so that I will be a Princeps from my second year onwards." Draco recited his words accurately, without hesitation and in a calm stature.  
"Precisely." Lucius nodded slightly. "We will be leaving in an hour." The Malfoys ate the rest of their meal with a polite small talk before the houselves cleared it away and gathered up Draco's belongings.

_Draco Lucius Malfoy left for Hogwarts with the aim to befriend Harry Potter so that he could become a different man to the one that his father is._


	2. The Sorting Hat

Harry Potter sat alone on the Hogwarts Express, he had locked the doors and was gazing out of the window lost in thought. It was only twelve o'clock and yet so much had happened that day, he had met a family of overly helpful people, been told to run through a brick wall (and done it), been stared at so much that he couldn't wait to learn some decent hexes and had seen the first person who did not seem to like him. The boy's mother had called him Ronald before she clutched onto his arm again, Harry had wondered why that was, the boy called Ronald had been looking miserable and scowled at her when she did it. Ronald had also scowled at him, Harry supposed it was because the family had not realised who he was, but it was better than being followed by a hundred beady eyes. Harry's interest in the boy was not that, however, it was the feeling that Ronald was giving off, Harry could see it in his eyes that he longed to be free of that family. For some reason, Harry agreed with him, even though he had longed for a family of his own, that family was large and almost seemed suffocating, all talking at once, rowdy and all too eager to help others, even though they were late themselves. As Ronald was a first year, Harry knew he would see him again, not that he knew much about Hogwarts, he had read Hogwarts: A History, but that only told him about the castle and its founders, rather than the way it worked. He knew that there were four houses that each of the founders had created, however, due to the lack of information that the book held about the school life itself, Harry did not know what each house was like or how he would be sorted into one. When someone knocked on the door, Harry's first instinct was to be annoyed and as he believed it to be a group of wide-eyed fans, he ignored it. However, when the knock came a second time Harry glared at the door, he was frustrated at the rudeness of the people at Hogwarts and he had not even arrived yet. On the third knock, Harry unlocked the door and was about to tell the person to 'shove off and find their own compartment', when he noticed a familiar head of red hair. "It's you," Harry said bluntly instead of shutting the door in his face.  
"It's me, could I sit in here? Everywhere else is full," Ronald said, it was clear that he still had not realised who he was as the boy was not excited about the arrangement.  
"Umm, sure," Harry replied and let Ronald into the compartment, he sat down on the opposite seat to Harry.  
"I'm Ronald Weasley." He said after a few moments.  
Harry groaned internally as it meant that he had to introduce himself, the boy would have found out eventually anyway. "Harry, Harry Potter." To Harry's surprise, his answer was met with a slight grimace.  
"Out of all the compartments I could have chosen," Ronald muttered to himself.  
"Now do you see why I had the door locked?" Harry replied.  
"Don't try getting buddy-buddy with me." Ronald snapped, which Harry was certainly surprised about, everyone else had been trying to talk to him, this only intrigued him more.  
"And why is that?" Harry asked coolly.  
"Because I do not want to be risking my life on some heroic escapade of yours that you are bound to have by the second week." Ronald huffed as though it was an obvious reason.  
"Whoever told you I had no sense of self-preservation?" Harry said. "Oh wait, it was probably every person you've ever met as they all think they know me."  
Now Ronald was surprised, the Harry Potter he had heard stories about was a hero, usually, heroes came with an entire set of heroic traits, yet this boy showed no signs of any of them. It did not seem that he was selfless, or that he adored his loving fans, he did not have a well-mannered attitude and it seemed as though he disliked being a hero just as much as Ronald disliked him for it. "You mean to say that you're not the self-sacrificing goody-two-shoes that you're made out to be?"  
"Took you long enough to realise." Harry shook his head. "Why does something I don't even remember have to define all my characteristics?"  
"You're The Boy Who Lived, that's why," Ronald said bitingly.  
"Well that's a load of rubbish, were people really that desperate for Voldemort to be gone that they thought a one-year-old had killed him?" Harry shook his head again.  
"It appears so." For the first time since they met, Ronald smiled at him. "It seems to me that you're a lot more interesting than the papers make you out to be."  
Harry smiled back. "Nice to know that you see past the articles." Harry offered Ronald his hand, whose smile grew and he shook it firmly.

Harry and Ronald soon learned that they were very similar; they both had the desire to be free of their families, to grow stronger and to create their own expectations of themselves, they both hated their home lives and had been forced to grow up much more quickly than they were supposed to. However, what the two bonded over the most was their dislike of Albus Dumbledore.  
"Urgh, Dumbledore, again," Ronald complained as he threw his chocolate frog card to the floor.  
"As in Albus Dumbledore?" Harry asked, curious about both Ronald's reaction to a man who every other person thought was great, and that he wanted to learn more about the man who had knowingly left him at the Dursleys.  
"Yeah, I suppose you've heard of him." Ronald angrily bit the head off of his chocolate frog and continued to scowl at the image of him on the floor.  
"Yeah," Harry said bitterly. "He's the one who left me at the Dursleys."  
"I've never trusted that man," Ronald said.  
Harry picked up the card off the floor and stared at the picture on it. "This is him? He's just an old man, what does everyone see in him that's so great?"  
"No idea," Shrugged Ronald. "My family all seem to worship him or something. All I see is a manipulative, lying, controlling-"  
'Son-of-a-bitch," Harry finished Ronald's sentence for him and a smile returned to both of their faces.  
"Finally someone agrees with me!" Ronald cheers, a small laugh escaped out of his mouth. "And it's Harry Potter out of all the people."  
"Well, look forward to more surprises Ronald because I am far from the picture-perfect Harry Potter I am made out to be," Harry smirked.  
"Oh, I will look forward to it." Grinned Ronald, as he picked up another sweet from their pile.

Halfway through the journey, there was another knock at the compartment door, this time, Harry opened it and saw the pointy, blonde haired boy that he met in Madame Malkins. "You're the one from the robe shop." He said bluntly.  
"I am, and you're Harry Potter," The blonde boy nodded. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Harry's eyes flickered towards the two boulder-like people who flanked him like bodyguards. "Oh, and this is Crabbe, and this is Goyle."   
"Okay, well are you planning on standing outside for the rest of the journey?" Harry asked in a bored tone.  
"Not at all." Draco Malfoy turned to his bodyguards. "You can leave if you want to, Pansy and Blaise are back at our compartment." Crabbe and Goyle grunted, then made their way back down the carriage, Draco walked into the compartment and sat down beside Harry. It was at this moment that he noticed Ronald. "Weasley." He commented upon seeing the hair.  
"Malfoy," Ronald said in the same stiff voice.   
"Do you two know each other?" Harry asked.  
"No." The two boys said simultaneously.  
"I know of the Weasleys, they are one of the most famous wizarding families after all. Even if it is for their Good Samaritan ways." Draco's lip curled slightly at the end of the sentence.  
"Well, Ronald is not like the rest of the Weasleys, and if you're to start an argument then proceed to the nearest exit," Harry said calmly.  
"No, not here to start an argument, just came to see if you were the boy from the robe shop," Draco said with a slight reluctance. "So Weasley, what makes you so different from the rest of the clan?"  
"Apart from the fact that I hate nearly everything they stand for?" Ronald asked snidely. "Also, call me Ronald, I'd rather not be associated with that name for the rest of my life."  
"You hate nearly everything they stand for, that's always a good start. Do you have any proof of that?" Draco asked, not expecting Ronald to be able to prove that he was different. Ronald, however, pulled his shrunken textbook out of his robe pocket and showed Draco the tiny script on the front. "How were you able to come by this? It's only available to purchase from Knocturn Alley." Draco's eyes widened in shock as he looked up at Ronald again.  
"I snuck away from my mother and bought it myself," Ronald said, his eyes glowed with pride as he spoke of his defiance of the family name. At that moment, Harry realised that that was the reason that Mrs Weasley had been holding onto Ronald's arm so tightly, she had not wanted him to slip out of her sights again.   
"Impressive Ronald," Draco nodded, his face showed that he truly meant that statement, which shocked not only Ronald but Draco himself.   
"I should think so Malfoy," Ronald was still preening over his achievements.   
Draco rolled his eyes and extended a hand out to Ronald. "Call me Draco."  
"Sure thing," Ronald said as they shook hands.   
Draco was pleased with himself as he extended his friendship to a Weasley, they were notorious blood traitors, so it was the first step to becoming a different man to his father. He also knew that if his father found out he could say that it was necessary for gaining the trust of Harry Potter.   
  
"Hey, Harry?" Draco asked a while later.  
"Yes, Draco?" Harry replied as he looked up from the book that he had.  
"Have you learnt anything more since Diagon Alley? You were rather clueless about everything that day." Draco said with a small smirk on his face.  
"Excuse you, I had only known I was a wizard for a day," Harry rolled his eyes and continued to answer the question seriously. "But, yes I have, I've read Hogwarts: A History, our school books and a book on hexes."  
"Bravo, you can read," Draco said, his voice laced thickly with sarcasm. "Show me something that you learned."  
"Really?" Harry asked thinking that it was a joke, but the look on Draco's face suggested otherwise. "Alright then." Harry pulled out his wand and thought of a hex that he could use. Just as he was about to start speaking, a girl with bushy hair pulled back into a ponytail forced her way into the locked compartment. "You can't just barge into people's compartments, it is rather rude you know." Harry turned to look at this girl and the wild expression on her face in annoyance.  
"Are you doing magic?" She asked, his wand being pointed at Draco seemed to have changed her course of action.  
"Well, yeah," Harry replied, he glanced at Ronald and Draco, but they just shrugged, clearly as confused as he was.  
"Let's see then," She said, folded her arms and sat down next to Ronald.  
"Hang on a moment," Ronald cut in. "You can't just come into locked compartments and demand for people to perform magic."  
"Yes, it being locked did make it a slight challenge for me to get in, but are you really dimwitted enough to think that I am here just for that?" The girl shook her head. "He was already going to do magic, so I'm just going to make up the audience."  
Ronald looked at the other two boys in disbelief as the mystery girl waited patiently for Harry to perform the spell. Harry now decided to rethink the hex that he was going to perform as this girl clearly wanted to be impressed by something, and giving a defenceless boy antlers was probably not going to be the answer. "Ronald, can I borrow your rat?" Harry asked.  
"Sure." Ronald handed Harry the sleeping rat, which he placed on the seat next to him.   
Harry now pointed his wand at the rat and said clearly. "Entomorphis." Scabbers began to squeal as he began to shrink and morph. After a few moments, Ronald's rat had turned into an ugly grey beetle, which had begun running round in circles. Harry then muttered the counterspell and Scabbers returned to his rat form.  
"Is that the best that Harry Potter can do?" The girl said smugly, she then created a ball of fire in the palm of her hand, without uttering a single word or using a wand. The fireball began to grow at an alarming rate until it was around the size of her head, the girl then made it vanish into a puff of smoke. "I'm Hermione Granger and I will be the greatest student in Hogwarts, I will not be second to a boy who is known for an act that he cannot even remember." Hermione Granger stood up and walked to the entrance of the compartment. "Lovely to meet you all." She said innocently, smiled at them sweetly and left, letting the compartment doors close with a crash behind her. The three boys stared in shock at the spot where the girl had been.  
"What just happened?" Harry asked.  
"It was wandless," Draco mumbled in disbelief, his father had not informed him of such a powerful witch due to attend Hogwarts, which meant that she was possibly Muggleborn. He knew his father would not be happy about him being behind a Muggleborn, but it would be impossible to get higher grades than her, except perhaps in potions.  
"That was amazing." Ronald breathed dreamily, the sheer amount of power still rushed through his veins as he thought about it. He hoped that they would be in lessons together so that he could experience that amount of power firsthand again.  
"Ronald?" Harry snapped his fingers in front of Ronald's dazed face.   
"Did you not feel the power?" Ronald asked, but was met with shakes of the head from the other two boys. "It was nothing like I have ever experienced, it was glorifying." Harry and Draco shared a look of confusion as Ronald continued to stare fixedly at the spot where Hermione Granger had been.

By the time the train had begun to chuff slowly into Hogsmeade station, darkness had fallen and the cold air of a Scottish September was already biting. Harry, Ronald and Draco got off the train together and stepped onto the bustling platform.   
"Where do you suppose we are supposed to go?" Harry asked, but before either of the other two boys were able to answer, a loud voice boomed out across the students, one that Harry recognised immediately.  
"Firs' years this way!" Hagrid shouted over and over, his voice echoed around the station, even without the help of a microphone.  
"I guess that's your answer," Ronald called over the noise of the crowd.  
"Let's just go before hr leaves without use." Said Draco irritably and they began to push their way through the students towards the gigantic man.  
"Hello, Hagrid," Harry said when they reached the man.  
"Harry!" Hagrid boomed, a smile spread across his face. "Have a good train journey?"   
"Yes, I did." Nodded Harry and Hagrid smiled more.  
"Good good," Hagrid nodded. "Now I want you three teh wait here until the rest of the kids get to us." He informed them, they went and stood in the spot that Hagrid had indicated them to where they waited for the rest of the first years.  
Once all the first years had reached Hagrid, their ears were pounding from being so close to Hagrid's voice and they were shivering on the spot. "Wait until my father hears about this," Draco muttered under his chattering breath. "We're freezing out here, have they no efficient way of doing this?"  
"If they did, the mode of transport would not be a train with the only food supply being sweets," Ronald complained, obviously hungry.  
"I am so pleased that you two are bonding over your misery," Harry said sarcastically, he had spent much more time than this in a cold cupboard without any food at all.  
"We're so glad that you are." Draco and Ronald replied simultaneously and Harry groaned at the fact that they were already speaking in sync with one another.  
Unfortunately, the three boys were only happy for a few moments, their joy vanished as soon as they realised that they would be travelling to the castle over the lake. The cold, dark lake, at night, in tiny boats. Harry had not even stepped foot inside the castle yet and he was already horrified by the way in which the students were treated. It made him hate Dumbledore, even more, the headmaster should think about what was happening to his students as children should never purposefully be put in dangerous situations.  
"Chins up boys!" Hagrid called from one of the boats. "You'll get a righ' good view of the cas'le from the lake!"  
 Begrudgingly, they clambered into one of the boats, which was already occupied by one other person, Hermione Granger. When she caught sight of them she huffed and looked away from them, Ronald, on the other hand, seemed fairly happy to see the girl again and sat in the seat next to her, which left Harry and Draco to sit behind them. It seemed as though they were not the only ones who were cold, once they were out on the water, Hermione conjured another fireball to keep herself warm. Fortunately, the warmth spread over the boat and they all warmed up slightly. The power that Hermione's magic let off overwhelmed Ronald once again and he stared at the fireball for a while after it was conjured.  
"What?" Hermione snapped, she turned and stared at Ronald.  
"Your magic is very impressive," Ronald breathed. "I can feel its power."  
"Really?" Hermione asked, now perplexed.  
"Yeah, it's stronger than anything I have ever felt before," Ronald replied and Hermione smirked smugly as she floated the fire closer to Ronald.  
"What's your name?" She asked not taking her eyes off him.  
"Ronald Weasley."  
"Pleasure to meet you, Ronald." Smiled Hermione.  
"Likewise." Ronald smiled back at her before he turned his head to look at the water ahead of him. During this exchange, Harry and Draco had been smirking at each other, thinking about all the ways that they could tease Ronald about this.

When they first saw the castle, it was the most magnificent thing any of them had ever seen. The size alone was breathtaking, the way that the lights flickered in the windows illuminating it even more, just made it even more incredible. Even though it was a school for witchcraft and wizardry, there was only one way to describe Hogwarts. Magical. Every student there had been struck silent as they watched the castle, transfixed by its beauty, admiring every turret, noticing how the moonlight shone gently on the windows and cast soft shadows over its walls. For all the descriptions they had heard of the castle's beauty, none of them were comparable to the real thing. No one spoke for the remainder of the boat journey as they all admired the castle with a loss for words, even Hagrid was struck by the beauty of castle after seeing it for so many years.

Clambering clumsily out of the boats at the shore, the first years hurried after Hagrid up towards the castle, teeth chattering, stomachs growling and nerves growing (even if they denied that there were any nerves at all). Hagrid knocked on the entrance doors three times, which opened to reveal a stern-faced lady and an enormous entrance hall. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid proclaimed.  
"Thank you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall replied. "I will take them from here."  
The students followed the professor to a large door, from behind it came a large buzzing sound, which was produced by the hundreds of students talking at once. Professor McGonagall turned to look at the first years now and Harry knew instantly that she was not someone that you would want to get on the wrong side of. "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like your family. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily. Please wait quietly." Professor McGonagall left the students who all suddenly felt nervous and unsure of what would happen next.  
"What house do you two think you are going to be in?" Harry asked Ronald and Draco.  
"Slytherin," Draco answered immediately. "All my family have been in that house for generations.  
"Anything but Gryffindor," Ronald said with determination. "That's the house my entire family are in, so being in a different house would be a good start to my legacy."  
"Right," Harry said slowly, he still did not know much about each house, but if Ronald's entire family had been in Gryffindor that was not the house he would choose to be in.  
"Of course, you don't know much about the houses." Ronald realised after a moment. "Gryffindor is for the brave and daring."  
"Hufflepuff is for the just and loyal." Draco chimed in.  
"Ravenclaw is for the wise and original." Continued Ronald.  
"And Slytherin is for the determined and cunning." Draco finished with a proud smirk on his face. A few Muggleborns had been listening to their conversation and like Harry, were attempting to sort themselves into one of the very brief descriptions of the houses. Harry felt like he would fit into Slytherin well, maybe Hufflepuff but others did not usually view what he did as just, Harry was always there for himself and did what he had to survive. It was not until recently that he had been given a goal to live by or something to strive for, but he knew that he would reach his goal no matter the cost.

Inside the Great Hall were hundreds of chattering students, who waited impatiently for the first years, they wished the sorting to be over so that they could start the feast itself.When the doors opened to reveal the new set of students, the hall hushed into a dead silence, scrutinising eyes fell upon the nerve stricken first years as they were shepherded up to the front of the hall. At the front of the hall stood a small, three-legged stool upon which lay an old, battered hat. To the unsuspecting eye, it appeared to be an ordinary hat, yet every student in the hall was watching it intently, as though it was about to do something. Harry wondered what he was supposed to do with the hat, he knew enough magic to transfigure it if they needed to, however, that seemed rather advanced for students who had not attended a single lesson. It was clear that this hat would be the one to sort them, yet it sat motionless on the stool and it did not look as though it could think for itself. That was until it broke out into song.  
"For all the dark times that have passed,  
And yet here a castle stands strong and tall.  
But all the power one has amassed,  
May yet cause the school to fall.  
You can keep the school standing,  
But the tasks that the students perform.  
Could bring about its own ending,  
For not, all will conform.  
But what I say is for all to hear,  
And still, may not reign true.  
What you ignore is my only fear,  
As I am only a hat to you.  
But for now, let me see,  
Where your talents lie.  
For which house you are destined to be,  
To find your strongest ally.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So come along and put me on,  
For I have never yet been wrong.  
I am no ordinary hat that  you don,  
For no other can make a song so long."

When the hat finished its final line, the school broke out into applause, some wary of what it had predicted, others merely brushed it aside, as no hat can tell the future no matter how smart it may be. Harry pondered the Sorting Hat's words in his head, he played them over and wondered whether they could be true. He had always been sceptical, yet the events the hat spoke of reminded him of something that he could not quite put his finger on. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice as it pierced the silence. "You will now be called up to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah." A small girl stumbled nervously up to the stool where the hat was placed upon her head, after a few moments of silence, the hat suddenly shouts "HUFFLEPUFF!" A large round of applause erupted from the table second across from the far wall, where Hannah Abbott happily runs to join her new housemates.

Slowly, the Sorting Hat works its way through the list of students, some took a long time and others took no time at all. "Granger, Hermione," Professor McGonagall called, which caught the three boys undivided attention once more, Hermione had been unpredictable as of yet and they were all curious to see where she would get sorted. Hermione Granger strode proudly up to the stool, where she sat astutely whilst the hat was placed upon her head. "What power," The hat spoke to Hermione as soon as it made contact with her head. "I have not seen power quite like yours Miss Granger in someone so young for many centuries." Hermione preened at the compliment and continued to listen to what the hat had to say. "Great ambition yet smart and you are yearning to seek validation from others. You want to be part of something extraordinary and you want to be remembered for what you can do, not where you came from. I have no doubt that you are indeed destined for great things, but it is up to you to make it that far. There is no doubt where you should be placed, even with your blood, better be - SLYTHERIN!" The hat spoke the last part out loud, where Hermione was greeted by an applause from the Slytherin table, though an obviously smaller one than the known purebloods had received. It was not due to prejudice, but rather due to the power associated with the old pureblood names, it would not bode well if Slytherin did not welcome the most powerful families in the wizarding world with more respect than others. However, this did not deter Hermione as she proudly strode over to her table and sat down amongst the other first years who had been sorted there. Hermione Granger belonged in Slytherin house, despite her blood status and soon enough the rest of the house would know that too. Draco watched Hermione with fascination as she proudly took her place at the table, he looked forward to being her classmate, no matter her blood type, the power she held was not something that could be easily ignored or thrown away. 

After MacMillan Ernest was sorted into Hufflepuff, Draco was called up to be sorted, he nodded towards Harry and Ronald before he walked up to the stool proudly. The hat had barely touched his head when it cried out "SLYTHERIN!" and Draco was greeted by a large round of applause from the Slytherin table. Draco smirked to himself as he walked over to the table, many of the students he had arrived with had already been sorted into Slytherin so they moved up in order to make a space for Draco to sit down. It was then that Draco was able to breathe, he now knew that he would not have to face the shame that would be brought upon him if he had not been sorted into Slytherin. Now he hoped that Harry and Ronald would be sorted into Slytherin alongside him.

"Potter, Harry," Professor McGonagall read from her piece of parchment and the previously silent room had begun to hum with excited whispers. Each house hoped that Harry Potter would join them, for everyone wanted to know the famous Harry Potter. Harry took a deep breath before he walked up to the front of the hall, sat down on the stool and had the hat placed upon his head, which hid his view of the hundreds of eyes that were desperate to catch a glimpse of him. "Fascinating." A loud voice spoke in Harry's mind. "So much potential within you, so much drive to reach your goals. You hold many types of magic within you, be sure to use them wisely. There is only one house for you. SLYTHERIN!" For a second the hall fell silent before the Slytherin students started an uneasy applause, which soon turned enthusiastic after the initial shock had passed. The rest of the school, however, were stunned into silence, unable to believe that Harry Potter had been sorted into the house that was known for producing more dark wizards than any other. Slowly, Harry made his way over to the Slytherin table, fully aware of the hundreds of eyes that continued to watch him, he kept his back straight, his face forward and showed no signs of weakness. Upon reaching the table, Harry noticed that Draco had moved one of the first years so that Harry could sit beside him. Therefore, Harry sat down in the intended seat and shared a nod of appreciation with Draco. This action had shocked people, even more, the Malfoys were well known for their dark ways as well as their participation in the First Wizarding War. Theories were already being collected in spectator's minds, from poison to manipulation, to Harry Potter being evil himself. Dumbledore watched the scene intensely as he wondered how the boy had been sorted into Slytherin, he had believed that living with Dursley's would have made him modest and sympathetic towards the needs of others. He feared that he had done the opposite and in doing so had destroyed any compassion that Harry would have gained from his parents. But not all was lost, Dumbledore wanted to make a strong bond with Harry Potter so that when Voldemort did one day return, Harry would serve his purpose and defeat him once more.

Ronald was one of the last names to be called out and when his name was called out, the rest of the school knew what would happen, he would be sorted into Gryffindor just as every Weasley had for generations. However, Ronald was ready to prove them wrong as he sat down on the stool and that Sorting Hat removed all his ginger hair from sight. "Ah, another Weasley." The Sorting Hat said in a pleasantly surprised tone. "I know just what to do with you-" Before the Sorting Hat was able to say his final word, a single word echoed through Ronald Weasley's mind.  
"No."  
"Really? Alright then." The Sorting Hat said slowly and began to delve deeper into Ronald's mind. "So much anger and hatred in your head, you want your family to look up to you rather than look down on you. You long to be admired by them."   
Ronald cut the Sorting Hat off again. "Admired by them? I hate them, I hate that they hate dark magic, I hate that they don't have any backbone despite being the perfect Gryffindors they claim to be. Why would I want to be admired by people like them? It is because of their pathetic ideologies that I am looked down upon by the wizarding world, they believe me to be a blood traitor alongside them, I will never stand by them. Not ever."  
"You think that you can sort yourself better than I can?" The hat asked perplexed.  
"Clearly when you have my goals confused." Sneered Ronald.  
"Well with an attitude like that you act like a Weasley, I would know, I have met many." The Sorting Hat said. "For where you're going, you should work on that." Then the Sorting Hat shouted. "SLYTHERIN!"   
Now the attention of every student was on the Weasley boy, he was the only Weasley to not be sorted into Gryffindor, let alone be sorted into Slytherin. They gaped at him in surprise as he got off the stool. Ronald raised an eyebrow at them before he made his way to the Slytherin table, where a weak applause was being given, it was mainly contained of Harry, Draco, Hermione and the Slytherin first years who were trying to get on the right side of Draco. He sat down in the empty space next to Hermione, opposite Harry and Draco, then gave a small smile to the three of them. 

The newly sorted Slytherins continued to watch the sorting ceremony with defiance in the hearts and determination in their minds. Albus Dumbledore paid close attention to the four of them, as he feared that his plans were to be corrupted by ideals in their minds, he could feel the hatred, the anger and the will to succeed above all else. He feared that they would start a war, even without the return of Lord Voldemort. 


	3. Into The Dungeons

By the end of the feast, Harry Potter had decided that Dumbledore was, in fact, insane, which meant that he was not even the slightest bit surprised that he had been left with the Dursley's for ten years. Harry suspected that Dumbledore had committed many acts like that, but had never thought about what consequences they would lead to. That meant that it was nearly time for Dumbledore to learn that he could not expect everyone to obey to his every whim, particularly when his whims usually led to the manipulation of masses of people. Harry had learned a lot about Hogwarts too, particularly about how the houses worked. Slytherins had to rely on each other due to the bias that the other houses had towards them, therefore, only Slytherins were allowed in the house itself. Their house was a sanctuary, a place for them to feel safe from scrutiny, where they would discuss any problems within the house or any problems they may be having with students outside of the house. Harry did not find himself wanting to converse with any of the other houses anyway, for one, the Gryffindor table was far too loud to even be considered civil, the Hufflepuffs sounded even worse than the Gryffindors for their helpfulness and as for the Ravenclaws, they appeared to be too far into their own heads to ever accomplish anything productive. Harry had decided that Slytherin was indeed the best house to be in. The house itself was fascinating, but the students were even more so, Harry himself was treated as a normal student as so many of the Slytherins came from powerful families. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were Draco's designated 'bodyguards', they had been chosen by Lucius Malfoy to increase Draco's visibility within the school and to show to the other students that he was a person of influence. Despite that, Crabbe and Goyle were both Slytherins to the core and together they contained all of the predominant house traits. Crabbe was the leader of the two, he called the final decisions and was the spokesman, whereas Goyle was the planner, he ensured that anything they did went smoothly and did not cost them anything of value. Harry knew that one day, the two would be unstoppable in anything that they wanted to do. Pansy Parkinson was part of a family who belonged to a group called the Sacred 28, which are the lines of the truest pureblooded families, also included on that list are the Malfoys (and the Weasleys despite their blood traitor status). As a member of the Parkinson family, she had been taught that she was above anyone who had a lesser blood status than her, which was rather prominent in her actions towards Hermione upon her discovery of Hermione's blood status. However, as the Parkinson family was not as powerful as the Malfoys, she followed Draco's lead and respected Hermione, even if she did not know why at the time. For her individual ambitions, Harry could not observe anything that was not obscured by the views of her family, which appeared to be a common theme within the Slytherin house. The last of Draco's chosen friends was Blaise Zabini, whose mother was currently on her sixth husband, as her previous five had all mysteriously disappeared. Blaise was an interesting character, who had learned a lot during his childhood about different types of people, he was excellent at deducting the personalities of other people and he was also rather charismatic. He believed that it was not the blood that made the witch or wizard, but instead the power of the individual. His step-fathers had been of many different bloodlines, but his mother had chosen them for their inheritance rather than their intelligence or blood status, as it meant that she was able to carry out the murders in the end. Despite this, he remained neutral on the subject and preferred to not choose a side because "that is how you end up dead" as he said in his own words. Harry was intrigued to learn more about the students in his year and the rest of the house, he had been informed by a prefect that there would be a meeting on the house system later that evening. Whilst Harry had been learning, he showed the other members of his house that he was not the Harry Potter that they had been expecting and had earned the respect of a few of the house members who had disliked him before due to his hero status.

After dinner, the prefects Gemma Farley and Cameron Boyle lead the first year students to the house and gave them a brief tour along the way. The castle was as incredible on the inside as its outside suggested, huge paintings covered the towering walls, each one moved and spoke as though there were people inside the paint itself. Harry found himself being led deeper and deeper into the castle as the light became darker and the air became cooler. "The Slytherin house," Gemma explained. "Is situated underneath the Black Lake and is in the dungeons of the school. Moreover, despite the temperatures in these dungeons, the house itself is rather warm, though this should encourage you to learn your heating charms more quickly." Gemma smiled at all the first years before she passed onto Cameron.  
"The password is changed every two weeks on a Sunday evening, make sure you attend the Sunday meeting in order to learn it. Do not tell anyone the password and do not let anyone inside. Our house is our home, it is where are secrets lie and we do not exploit the safety of our brethren, no matter who the outsider is." Cameron turned to face the wall and said clearly for the first years to hear. "Viridian Vindictus." Slowly the wall began to fold itself away to reveal a large mahogany door that was embellished with a snake with glistening green eyes. The door opened itself to reveal a large common room lit up by the light of the fire, its walls glowed softly in the light and enhanced the many portraits that hung there - all of which were famous witches and wizards from Slytherin. Above the fireplace hung a portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself, he inspected the first years from his portrait but said nothing as they hustled into the room. Within the room itself, were large leather sofas, tables for students to work at, bookshelves full of mysterious old books decorated with strange runes. In the corner of the room was a space for potions work and more explosive spellwork. However, the most impressive part of the room was the large windows that looked out into the Black Lake. Harry could see dozens of creatures as the swam lazily passed the windows, some peered inside to get a glimpse of the new students, whilst others waved.  
"And so, welcome to Slytherin," Gemma said proudly. "Each and every one of you has the potential for greatness, otherwise you would not have been placed here. Even those who appear to be unassuming have greatness in them. Stand by each other in your ambitions and see each one through, for there is no point of dreaming of something if you never take it for yourself. As a Slytherin, you will be pushed to be the greatest you can be and it will do well to push others too, the more competition you have, the more you will have to improve yourself."  
"Live by your own rules, not forget your own morals, but do not jeopardise the house or its chances of winning the House Cup. Aim to win, but be loyal to those you consider family, for a family does not always end or even start with blood. Study hard and use whatever skills you have to win. Remember every Slytherin is a comrade to you, even if you are competing against them. It always goes by well to have friends in high places." Cameron finished the main portion of the speech before moving onto the basics. "Girls dormitories are in the left corridor, where you will find your name assigned to a room. Boys the same on your right. Each room holds three people, boys are forbidden to go into the girls' corridor and girls are forbidden to go into the boys' corridor."  
"As for rule breaking," Gemma continued. "If you plan on that, make sure you have a plan and our number one rule is - do not get caught. If a professor or prefect from another house catches you, you will put the house in bad form. But you will not only face the detention, you will also face a task given to your housemates. This is a perfect opportunity for any rivals to get a spot of revenge, but it is also to encourage you to take precautions for whatever the professor sanctions you with will be nothing compared to what the house does. As previously mentioned, there is a house meeting every two weeks on a Sunday, which starts tonight. Tonight's meeting will be a general introduction to the new school year for older students but for first years it is your first true introduction to the house. First impressions are everything and it will be your starting point for the future you will have in Slytherin. During your first year, we will determine which one of you will be the Princeps for your year, you will take on these roles during your second year and will report to the fourth year Vir. If you have any problems that need to be addressed before a meeting, report to your Vir, who is Peregrine Derrick, or you could report to a prefect. Our current Regem is Janus Selwyn, he is the leader of our house and its most powerful member, whatever the Regem says is the final decision. Emergency meetings can be called, to get the message to Professor Snape tell him '242', after this he will discuss with you whether the meeting is needed and if it is the meeting will be called immediately. Any questions?" Gemma asked.  
Harry thought carefully about what he had just been told, being the Regem appeared to be the most desired position in the house and he knew that most people would be vying for the Princeps spot for their second year. He also knew that he had a lot to prove to this house, as Slytherins more than anyone would be wary of Harry Potter, as he has been made out to be the opposite of everything they stand for. Gemma was right, first impressions were everything and he had to make sure that he got his right. Harry was cut out of his thoughts by Hermione Granger, who had been the only one to ask a question. "How do you become a Princeps?" She asked.   
"The Princeps are chosen by the Vir and the Regem from that year. Janus Selwyn can give suggestions for next years Regem if he wishes to, the thoughts of everyone who has any power within the house counts. Nothing can be done without power." Cameron answered and Hermione seemed satisfied. "No more questions?" Cameron waited for a few moments. "You are dismissed."

Harry, along with the rest of the first year boys went to their corridor and began to look for the door with their name on it. Fortunately, Harry found his room rather quickly and saw that he was sharing with Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy, he sighed a breath of relief as he was already friends with the two boys. He waved the two boys over to him and they all entered the dormitory together. The room was bathed in a pale green lighting, which came through the large windows, these also looked out into the Black Lake. In the room there was; three beds, each with green sheets and thick green hangings, which were adorned with a silver embellishment, a matching wardrobe and set of drawers for each of them, a large chandelier which hung from the ceiling, which was decorated with softly glowing candles, a fireplace was in the centre of the room and through the door on the right hand side was the bathroom. Their things had already been placed by their beds and on top of each bedside table lay a small Slytherin pin for them to put on their robes. "Nice." Commented Ronald as he walked over to his belongings and began to unpack. Draco and Harry did the same and soon enough their dormitory was in good shape. After seeing all the wizarding clothing that Ronald and Draco had, Harry wished that he had brought some casual clothes whilst he was in Diagon Alley as he felt that his muggle clothes stood out too much. Draco noticed Harry looking at his wardrobe in distaste and walked over to him. "Not big enough?" He asked jokingly.  
"More along the lines of too muggle." Harry sighed. "Is there any way for me to get robes while I'm here?"  
"You can always try owl order, that way you'll have robes for next weekend," Draco said after a moment of thought.  
"Thanks, Draco," Harry smiled. "I'll order some tomorrow."   
"You're welcome," Draco smiled back.  
Overall, Harry was happy with the room arrangement, he, Draco and Ronald all enjoyed each other's company and were quickly becoming friends. Draco was quick-witted and pompous - which was not all that surprising considering his upbringing - whilst Ronald was slightly quieter, his fewer remarks were snarkier and more thought out, his humour often self-depreciating or dark. Harry himself was the quietest of the three, as he was not yet used to the freedom that had been thrust upon him, therefore, he would forget to join in conversations and would instead watch the rapid quickfire between his two friends. Ronald and Draco were both very similar, despite being brought up completely differently, though some of their views clashed (for example, Muggleborns) their determination and their aspirations of being known apart from their family bonded the two tightly. Draco had always been told to stay away from Weasleys because they were a disgrace to the name of wizard, but for once Draco was not afraid of what his father would say because he had been able to choose friends. Even though his father had wanted him to become friends with Harry Potter, Harry was the type of person that Draco would want to be friends with regardless of whether his father had told him to befriend him or not. Ronald was pleased with how things were going at Hogwarts so far, he had not been sorted into Gryffindor, he had become friends with Harry Potter, which he had not expected to be a good thing, and Draco Malfoy. He had also met a girl named Hermione Granger, who was very intriguing to Ronald, she held a lot of magic inside her, which she was able to wield well, however, Ronald could not identify what made her magic different to other witches and wizards. Usually, Ronald could feel the magic of everyone he beats, it ran like soft heartbeats through him, the stronger the heartbeat was, the stronger the magic, some people had fast pulses, others were slower, their magical pulses matched the way in which they performed magic. Hermione's pulse was different to the others, it was erratic, constantly switching between speeds and forces. To Ronald, this felt strong, yet it was dangerous magic and unlike most, this intrigued him even further, he wanted to learn more about Hermione Granger and the magic she held.

Soon enough it was time for the meeting, hurriedly the boys straightened themselves up and headed through to the common room where many of their housemates had already gathered. Upon their entrance, the words 'Harry Potter' and 'Weasley' were scattered around the room, often with scorn but the boys ignored them and stood in the crowd. A few moments later, Hermione joined them, fiercely ignoring the disgusted looks that were being thrown in her direction. She was tempted to throw a spell at them but thought that would make her appear as common as they believed her to be so decided against it. However, she was planning on proving them all wrong and to change the misconceptions that they had about Muggleborns. Professor Snape was stood to the left of the room, his eyes fixed viciously upon Harry as his mind whirred through his thoughts. The boy looked exactly like James but even from across the room he could see her eyes - Lily's eyes. He hated that a boy who looked so much like James Potter had Lily's eyes, James Potter had been an arrogant prat and Lily had been his until he had taken her away. Furthermore, Snape blamed Harry for her death, it had been the boy the Dark Lord had been after, not Lily. He was only brought out of his thoughts by the sudden silence in the room as Janus Selwyn had made a loud cracking sound come from his wand. A hundred heads swivelled in Selwyn's direction as he stood on the small platform in front of the fireplace. "Good evening everyone and welcome to the school year of 1991 to 1992, welcome back to our older students and hello to our first years. This year I would like to start off with an important quote said by Merlin himself: 'No young man, no matter how great, can know his destiny. He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, he must live and learn.' Everyone in this house is destined for greatness, there is no doubt about that, you would not be stood here otherwise, a Slytherin is not to be underestimated no matter how weak they appear to be. For not everyone will know their destiny, it may take some much longer than others to learn of it, but for each and everyone one of you, it will be great. When your story begins to unfold, do not run away in fear, do not push it aside, you must take that destiny and make it your own. That in itself appears to be a contradiction but in order to become truly great, you must go beyond what society expects, improve the destiny that has been laid out for you, make it greater than it could have been if you had done nothing. Aim not for the stars but for the sun itself, shine so brightly you burn everything else to ashes, make yourself the centre and do not bow down to anyone else." Selwyn took a pause to breathe. "Become powerful in what you want to achieve, work hard to get to those goals and learn from the mistakes that you make. Use what you learn in and out of lessons to push forwards, to make yourself as strong as you can be and to reach all that you aspire to have. As for the house as a whole, I have a few things that need to be mentioned. For the past six years, we have been the proud holders of the House Cup and we must continue on to receive the cup once again, but do not aim just to win the cup, aim to earn so many points that no other house stands a chance. A bar has been set for our house and we must do what we can to set that bar even higher because every year we have earned more points than the last. As for Quidditch, we aim to win, last year we were bitterly defeated by Hufflepuff and came in second place, this year we will win the trophy. News about trials will be on the noticeboard and anyone with questions can talk to our new captain Marcus Flint. Now, are there any issues that anyone would like to bring to my attention before I hand over to Professor Snape?" A few students raised their hands. "Yes, Pucey?"  
"What about the mudblood?" Pucey drawled, some other students murmured in agreement.  
"What do you mean Pucey? Are you not a half-blood yourself?" Selwyn asked calmly.  
"She cannot be here. There aren't any other mudbloods here." Pucey replied.  
"What exactly do you expect me to do?" Selwyn answered. "Kick her out? Now that would be utterly ridiculous, she has been sorted into this house and this is where she stays." Selwyn said as though his words were final, which they should have been, however, it appeared as though Pucey was not finished.  
"That is exactly what I want you to do. She doesn't belong here! Neither does the blood traitor Weasley." Pucey growled. "My fellow students and I do not want to be exposed to such filth!" BOOM. The fire from the grate had crashed into Pucey and caused him to crash to the ground. Hermione Granger was staring at him furiously from the other side of the room.   
"You clearly did not listen to a word of that speech," Hermione said haughtily. "A Slytherin should not be underestimated no matter how weak they appear to be." She recited from Selwyn's speech. "You underestimate me due to my blood, you call me filth, you cannot even stand to look at me. But I will tell you one thing, I deserve to be in this house just as much as you, otherwise the Sorting Hat would not have placed me here. I do believe that it is you that needs to leave. Yes, you heard me correctly. You need to leave the home that you have made for yourself up your arse and start to actually use your brain." Hermione glared at Pucey, who returned it with an equal menace. He stood up, brushed himself off and glared at the rest of the house, who had grown silent.  
"Is there anyone who has an issue that is about something other than a person's blood?" Selwyn asked in despair, he was left with one final hand. "Yes, Viola Richmond."  
"Harry Potter," Richmond said confidently, her eyes were filled with anger and betrayal.  
"Really?" Selwyn asked. "I thought I said no questions about blood, or have you forgotten to what the role of the Regem is?"  
"Exactly, you were specific about blood, my problem with Harry Potter is not his blood but what his name stands for. How can you be sure that we can trust him?" Richmond answered, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and folded her arms.  
"Is that a question that you want to impose on all of the first years?" Selwyn remarked. "We can never be sure of where a person's loyalty will lie but we can make them part of our house and together we learn to fight alongside each other. I did not trust every person in Slytherin when I first started Hogwarts, how could I? It would be foolish to trust every person that you met, just as it is foolish to dismiss someone because of the stigma that surrounds them. If you are concerned about where the loyalties of Harry Potter lie, speak to him, he is the only one who can convince you to trust that he will not divulge our house's secrets. Harry Potter, would you speak for a moment?"  
Harry slowly stepped forwards so that more people could see him and looked directly at Selwyn. "Yes?" He asked.  
"I believe that Miss Richmond has something to say to you, as we try to resolve inner house conflicts during our meetings." Selwyn indicated for Richmond to speak.  
"Do you really think that we believe your act of loyalty?" Richmond said as she turned to face Harry. "How do we know that you won't run to Dumbledore and tell him everything that goes on within the house? Why would someone who resonates so deeply with the light side be part of our house? It's not that all Slytherins are evil, but it is our dislike of the way that light magic works - it does not get anything done. Are you really ready to be a Slytherin? To do anything to achieve your goals? To stand by us, as comrades, rather than against us? Convince me that you are worthy of bearing the Slytherin name."  
Harry waited for Richmond to finish talking before he started his counter-argument. "An act of loyalty is the kind of deception that only a Slytherin could pull off, from what I have heard a Gryffindor would be too noble to consider it, a Hufflepuff would be wrecked by the guilt and a Ravenclaw would rather spend the time doing something that interested them. Whatever the newspapers told you about me is wrong. I would never run along to Dumbledore to tell him something, or to spill the secrets of the house, he keeps secrets from everyone else, why does that warrant him to know ours? I am not Dumbledore's errand boy and I do not resonate with the light side in any way, it has never done anything for me. The light side is the reason that my parents are dead, the reason why I grew up segregated from my own kind, the reason why I am only seen as a swot who just wants to risk his life for everyone. What kind of eleven year old wants to risk his life? I am no weapon in his war, I am on my own side until there is one that actually gives me something in return. I will stand by the Slytherin house, the house that is looked down upon because the people within it actually have the guts to go after what they want, the house does not get stopped because everyone else thinks it is wrong, the house that lives by its own rules and morals. You cannot know whether I am worthy of its name, just as you do not know if every first year is worthy of the name. We all have something to prove, we all have to show that we are not what we have been told to be, we are all people who have the determination and capability to fulfil our craziest ambitions. Until you are able to prove that I am not worthy of the Slytherin title, I do believe that we are done." Richmond stared at Harry in both shock and contemplation when he finished his speech.  
"Just know Potter, that I will be keeping a close eye on you, as will the rest of the Slytherin house." Richmond snarled before she retreated back into the crowd, Harry did the same and Selwyn checked for questions one last time. This time there were no questions and so Professor Snape was invited to talk.  
"Welcome Slytherins." Snape began to talk and the room fell into a deadly silence. "I do believe that Mr Selwyn covered the majority of what you all needed to hear, particularly the first years. However, I do have a few points to add. Always remember that you are your best asset, trust your own instincts but listen to those with greater power than your own. Do not look for unnecessary trouble and do not bring shame upon your house, during your time here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry we aim to guide you into powerful sorcerers who are able to achieve within the wizarding world. For the troublemakers amongst you, you will soon learn that your actions have consequences and to those of you who have not yet learned this, the consequences will become increasingly severe." Snape's eyes seemed to linger on a few students for a moment and Harry could have sworn that he was one of them. "Now you are all dismissed, return to your dormitories for the night and be awake on time for your first lessons tomorrow. We do not want to start the year by losing points due to tardiness." Snape left the room without another word, his cape billowed out behind him as the students stood in silence. After that, the students began to filter out of the common room and go back to their dormitories. When Harry entered his room, he flopped onto his bed and groaned. "I hate being famous."  
"Better get used to that," Draco answered as he sat down on his own bed. "It will probably only be worse outside of the house."  
"Very reassuring Draco," Harry said sarcastically.  
"You are welcome," Draco replied seriously, he had not taken in that Harry had been sarcastic, which caused Ronald to snigger, which left Draco rather confused. "I do not understand." He stated.  
"There's something called sarcasm mate, read up on it, you'd love it." Ronald laughed again before he walked into the bathroom to get ready.  
"Was that sarcasm?" Draco asked Harry his eyebrows furrowed in thought.  
"Partly," Nodded Harry, "How do you not understand sarcasm?"  
"Being a Malfoy never called for the occasion," Draco said haughtily.  
"Ah right, okay," Harry replied. "So you basically have the social skills of a fifty-year-old?"   
"I hardly believe that is fair," Draco snapped but Harry just laughed. "What is this nonsense?"  
"Draco," Harry said slowly. "You may know how to speak in a formal setting, but how do you expect to lead anyone when you do not even understand a simple joke?"  
"Maybe because there is no time for joking within such serious matters," Draco replied.  
"You can't be serious all the time, you said it yourself, you want to be different than your father, start by learning how to enjoy yourself," Harry advised. "Think about it, Ronald practises dark magic because he likes it even though no one else does. Have you ever done something because you wanted to do it? Or are all your ambitions derived from your father's words?" Draco truly did not know what his own ambitions were, the only thing he knew was that he wanted to be different than his father. Draco had seen how his father lived, how everything was decided for him, his entire life planned out, Draco did not want that. He would do whatever it took to make his life his own, to fight for his own ambitions whatever they may be and he did not care what he had to do in order for that dream to happen.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you liked the first chapter of my new story. Sorry for how similar Harry's part was to the canon, I needed to show how his character differed from the Harry Potter we all know and love. The next chapter will contain more plot and I aim to upload it very soon. Comments are always welcomed and I will always reply, and feel free to leave any constructive criticism as I am always looking to improve.
> 
> \- Georgia


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